


Duality

by Aston (AstonT)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dark Harry, Dumbledore Bashing, Intelligent Harry, Manipulative Dumbledore, Slytherin Harry, Time Travel, dead hero complex, eventual Harry Potter/Tom Riddle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-08-23 20:31:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 7,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8341702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstonT/pseuds/Aston
Summary: They say you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain. Harry's just tired and bored. So of course, Fate decides to play one final game with him and sends him back to Tom Riddle's time. These are his adventures now that he's fed up of playing hero for people who don't deserve it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This came about because of a song and a quote.   
> "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain." and the song Duality by Set It Off.   
> I hope you enjoy it!

Honestly, by now, Harry was just bored.

That didn't mean, however, that he wanted Fate to fuck him over again and throw him into the past.

However, it was just his luck that that was exactly what happened.

He was quick about getting his bearings back before he realized not only had Fate thrown him back in time, but had also reversed his age to where he was a child again.

He huffed, but made his way about finding out the date.

* * *

Of course, of bloody course, he'd been thrown back to Tom Riddle's time. 

Of course, he'd wound up in the same Orphanage as the boy, once again facing adversity due to his differences.

But this time, he didn't play nice like he had with the Dursleys.

In fact, he loathed the idea enough that the thought of what they'd done to him only fed his anger and frustration when someone decided to treat him poorly due to his magic.

It didn't escape his notice that Tom Riddle seemed drawn to him - curious about the strange events that always seemed to follow the teasing the other kids bestowed upon a too-small raven haired ten year old.

He also noticed that Harry seemed scarily efficient in the punishments he was given by the matrons when they were told Harry had done something.

* * *

"Are you alright?"

Harry looked up from where he was nursing an injured arm one day at lunch only to give a wry smile to Tom Riddle. "I'm quite fine, thank you," he responded in the same tone Tom had used.

Tom ignored this, sitting down beside him and taking the injured arm, ignoring the slight hiss of pain to he could examine it.

He didn't ask why he didn't tell someone he was hurt, or ask why it happened, just who did it.

Harry nodded to the two boys who had caused it and Tom nodded, following his gaze to see the two boys watching them warily.

"You're different," Tom said after a long moment.

Harry gave a quiet laugh, but it was bitter. "Guess you could say that."

* * *

From that day, the two were friends in a strange way. They never said it, but they gravitated towards one another in a way they didn't to anyone else. 

Harry helped feed Tom's curiosity, sometimes managing to sneak out and come back with stolen books that the two would pour over.

Tom helped Harry get back at their bullies and fed his addictively dark personality.

And so, they fell into a routine. 

The day of Harry's eleventh birthday, the two boys were both sitting in Tom's small room reading through books that had been donated to the Orphanage, both content in their silence, only broken to share something they'd read.

When the door opened, it made Harry look up warily and tense up.

Tom looked up immediately after he felt Harry tense up, giving the raven-haired boy a strange look before following emerald eyes to land on an auburn haired man.

Mrs. Cole was with him, and spoke, explaining that the man - Dumbledore - was there to speak with the two of them.

Once the door was closed, Harry shifted backwards on the bed to sit beside Tom while Dumbledore took a seat in the chair by the desk that sat beside the small bed.

Harry kept Tom from revealing much about either of them, and once Dumbledore had left, Harry sighed.

It seemed that he'd have to live through the manipulations again, this time in a different form. But then, emerald eyes hardened, making Tom raise an eyebrow.

"He'll try to manipulate us," Harry said quietly. "Be careful,"

Tom didn't question how Harry knew it - he seemed to have a decent read on several people. Instead, he agreed with the black haired boy.

* * *

When the day came for them to be off to Hogwarts, both boys were quiet until they were on the train. 

Harry noticed the small smile showing on Tom's face and returned it, knowing that the older boy was happy to be out of their awful Orphanage.

And honestly? Harry was happy too - he was going home.

* * *

The Sorting should've surprised Harry, he thought. He'd been called up and Tom had given him a steady look as he headed towards the stool with the Hat. 

But it didn't - the Hat only stayed on his head for a moment, speaking with him briefly before declaring him a Slytherin.

Harry moved to sit at the table of the House of Snakes, shortly followed by Tom.

* * *

As the two boys fell asleep in their dorm - two people to a room, much cozier and more homey in Harry's opinion than the Gryffindor dorms had been in his time - Harry couldn't help but feel safe and at ease for the first time in his life. 


	2. Chapter 2

A week.

That was how long it took for Harry to get fed up with the other Slytherins outcasting Tom and him.

Tom sat back with a smug grin showing when Harry finally snapped any put everyone in their place.

The only Slytherin who hadn't seemed bothered, who had been friendly from the start, was a fellow first year - a Black.

Harry gave Tom an easy going smile as the two headed to breakfast.

It escaped most people's notice that things had changed in Slytherin - they were nothing if not good at keeping internal affairs from everyone who wasn't a Slytherin.

Of course, the teachers noticed. Unfortunately, Harry realized belatedly, Dumbledore was among those who'd realized.

And as such, he prepared himself for harsher treatment from the auburn haired teacher, knowing he'd have to keep himself under control.

After all, it wouldn't do to show his hand so early.

Harry explained to Tom in quiet Parseltongue about this, and the older boy wasn't happy, but he agreed when it was all explained.

* * *

Harry found himself surprised at how well he was doing this time around. But he didn't let it show - instead, he just silently mused. 

He supposed it helped that he didn't have someone out for his blood. He still faced manipulations from Dumbledore, still had issues with people thinking they could push him around, but he could handle all of that no problem and still manage to keep his grades impressively high, falling short only to Tom.

Tom didn't seem to worry overly much about it - sure, the two boys spent a large amount of time studying, but it wasn't just their classes they studied for.

In fact, Harry found it quite surprising that he was falling so easily into studying any subject he could find, happily so. He knew Hermione would be proud of this development.

Harry was pleasantly surprised when, on a Saturday after Tom and him had finished their homework, he found a book on the mind in the Hogwarts library.

Tom glanced up from his own book at the pleased hum Harry gave before joining him again. "What did you find?"

Harry showed Tom the book before he gave a sage smile and opened the book, settling in to read.

An hour into the reading Harry was doing, he made a humming sound.

Tom looked back up, waiting patiently for Harry to explain.

Instead, Harry pushed the book over to Tom - he'd been surprised that it held anything about Horcruxes, but he supposed he shouldn't be.

Tom skimmed it before he made a strange expression, handing the book back. "We'll have to start keeping notes of things," he said with a resigned smile.

Harry knew it was going to happen eventually, that they'd find something important enough that they'd start doing more research, eventually start keeping notes. He offered the suggestion of starting at Christmas when they'd have plenty of free time.

Tom held no complains about that plan.

* * *

And they kept up with everything rather easily until Christmas, as well. 

They were the only two Slytherins to stay over holidays, but they didn't care.

Tom seemed pleasantly surprised to note some of the Slytherins they had begun being friendly towards had left them gifts.

Harry seemed excited about the entire thing - more so when he realized that one of the gifts was a leather-bound notebook each.

Of course, Tom immediately suggested they use them for their research, to which Harry agreed.

The time after breakfast on Christmas morning was spent in the library, books piled around the table they'd taken over, notebooks out, and the silence filled with the scratching of the quills on parchment.

They worked together well, pointing out something and discussing if it'd be of use before deciding who would jot it down.

And they kept it organized in such a way that Harry felt proud of, that he knew would make it easy to pull up any information they needed. Tom's notebook had become the catch-all for Parselmagic (however little they actually found on it in the books at the school library), wards, and several spells, as well as general information about different things.

Harry's notebook quickly became the one they used for laws and anything else they thought would be of use in years to come. He knew it would also become the one they planned in.

* * *

Tom's birthday passed before everyone returned, and Harry and Tom spent that night locked away in their dorm with books around them, spending time in silence. 

It was the same every year, except this time, Harry had planned ahead and filched a book when they'd gone to get their school supplies.

Tom was completely engrossed in the text.

Harry gave an amused half smile at that.

* * *

Oh, how Harry despised Dumbledore. 

He stormed into the dorm he shared with Tom, causing the elder to look up in surprise at the surge of magic entering the room.

"What did he do now?"

Harry's eyes locked onto Tom for a moment, not understanding for a fraction of a second why he was asking such a stupid question, before emerald eyes calmed and the anger left him in one wave, leaving him sinking onto his bed in exhaustion.

Tom waited patiently for an answer, watching the smaller boy quietly.

"He had the nerve to say that you were controlling me," Harry finally said. "Can you imagine, me letting you control me, walk over me?"

Tom gave an amused smile in response to the anger in Harry's voice. "You're behaving like a Gryffindor," he pointed out.

Harry's nose wrinkled at this, but he said nothing.

"And besides, would it be so bad to let him believe such?" Tom questioned. "Better he undermine one of us than know what to expect from us."

Silence followed these words, then Harry gave Tom a meaningful look. "I'll keep the act up," he said after a long moment. "Only until it comes a time we can use our advantages to destroy him,"

Tom nodded his agreement and returned his focus to his book.

 


	3. Chapter 3

The other Slytherins seemed a bit lost when they saw the difference between how Harry acted in public and in the common room and dorms.

But none of them questioned it when they saw the look in both Harry and Tom's eyes, knowing it was best to stay out of whatever they were doing.

Come the weekend after Yule holidays, Harry was completely pissed with how he had to act - he kept to the dorms most of that Saturday.

Tom only managed to drag him out for meals, and even during those, Harry wasn't happy.

"How long do we have to keep doing this?" Harry grumbled to Tom during dinner.

Tom glanced at him before he gave an easy smirk, looking back to his food. "Until we have a plan,"

Harry didn't ask what for - he knew what for. They were going to rid themselves of Dumbledore. He nodded. "We'll get started soon, right?"

"Why, don't you like playing my subordinate pet?"

"I'm no one's _pet,"_ Harry growled, glaring at Tom before he looked back down.

Tom was quiet for a long while before he spoke again, his voice different this time - colder. "No, you aren't." he agreed. "And for you to have that violent a reaction, I'll assume it means you've had to play pet for someone before?"

Harry went to answer, to lie, but he looked up and met blazing dark grey eyes and then looked back down, the lie falling dead before it left him.

But the fact that he didn't argue gave Tom his answer.

Harry felt his guard raise when Tom dismissed himself early from dinner, leaving with his magic crackling dangerously around him. But he knew Tom kept it well contained, he knew he was the only one who'd feel it.

"What's he so upset about that he'd leave early?"

Harry glanced up to see slightly concerned silver grey eyes watching him. He gave a shrug and a half smile.

* * *

When Harry entered the dorm he shared with Tom, he found the older boy sitting on his bed with a book in hand and the room in tatters. 

"You didn't have to lose your temper," Harry pointed out as he started to fix everything.

Tom looked up at the raven haired boy before he nodded. "I know I didn't. But when someone hurts something that's mine, I have every right to get upset,"

Harry bristled at these words, throwing a dark look to Tom only to see the boy getting off his bed.

He stopped when Tom grabbed his arms, allowing himself to be led to be pushed to sitting on his bed.

In the next moment, Tom was kneeling in front of him, giving him a slightly concerned look. "Tell me about what happened." he said, voice soft but holding a level of darkness that Harry reveled in.

"It doesn't matter,"

Tom's eyes darkened at this and he spoke, voice losing it's soft tone from moments ago. "It certainly does matter! If someone's hurt you, they're going to suffer,"

"They already have." Harry spat, glaring at Tom.

Silence fell between the two, and after a long while, Harry spoke again. "Can we start planning now?"

Tom gave a knowing smile and got up. "Let's." he responded easily.

Harry moved to grab his notebook and a quill and inkpot as Tom settled on the bed with him.

* * *

The two of them poured over the notebook and talked in whispers in parseltongue until close to dawn when they both fell asleep curled on Harry's bed. 

They woke to a pounding on the door to their dorm.

Harry groaned, not opening his eyes as he spoke. "'m up, Aunt Petunia,"

But when he opened his eyes, he immediately groaned again - Alphard Black was standing in the open doorway, giving him a look that was between pity and amusement.

Tom was already up and dressed, ready for the day.

"Rough night?" Alphard asked with a knowing grin to Harry.

Harry glared at him, dragging himself up and through the motions of getting ready to face the day.

While he was in the bathroom getting a quick shower, Alphard spoke to Tom. "Want to explain?"

Tom shrugged. "Not my story," he pointed out.

Alphard nodded before he hesitated again. "Make sure he's alright before coming down,"

"Of course," Tom said, waving the boy off.

* * *

On the walk to the Great Hall, Tom spoke. "You brought up your aunt this morning when Alphard knocked on the door to our dorm," 

Harry glanced up at him before he looked down. "So I did,"

Tom didn't press, just gave Harry the warning that Alphard would likely question it.

Sitting down for breakfast, Harry immediately relaxed into routine.

Alphard kept a close eye on him, though, and once he'd been given the chance to eat a bit, he spoke. "I thought you grew up with Tom?"

Harry glanced up at him before he gave a wry smile. "I did, but I spent my first years with my aunt and uncle," he offered.

"May I inquire as to what became of them?"

Harry gave a knowing smile. "They had an unfortunate accident,"

Tom didn't react more than a flicker of mirth crossing dark grey eyes.

After that, things settled back into the normal despite the act Harry kept up for the sake of protection for Tom and him.

The two of them spend more time planning on weekends when their homework was finished, and still spent most of their time in the library researching any topic that caught their eye that particular day.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the last weeks of term, Tom noticed Harry becoming more and more meek in public settings. While it helped their act, it was worrisome how fast he switched when they were alone.

Currently, the boy was sitting in the Slytherin common room beside Tom, holding a calm conversation with some of the other Slytherins, looking every bit as in control as he was. There was no sign of his meekness that had been seen just moments before at dinner.

He knew he wasn't the only one to notice, but he was the only one who knew this wasn't normal for Harry.

Harry was fooling everyone, except him.

And he brought that up in their shared dorm that night.

"So what?" Harry asked curiously, holding Tom's gaze. "If everyone else believes the act, then it only helps our case, doesn't it?"

Tom was quiet for a long moment before he spoke. "Don't let the act take over who you are or we're in trouble," he warned.

* * *

The final day of term was spent packing last minute items and relaxing. 

So of course, Tom and Harry spent their free time in the library with their notebooks one last time.

"So I'm thinking we should maybe find some muggle notebooks and start with the books there," Harry offered as he wrote something down.

Tom raised an eyebrow at him. "And why would we do that?"

Harry smiled up at him before he spoke. "Because the muggles have their own rich history, and it would come in very useful to know it, since most don't bother learning anything about muggles."

Tom understood then - a working knowledge of the muggle world was a secret weapon, in a way. "Alright. We can do that. At least it'll keep us busy this summer,"

Harry nodded in agreement.

* * *

The train ride back to the Platform was long and quiet, but neither minded. 


	5. Chapter 5

The beginning of summer was spent with the two boys holed up in one of their rooms together, doing their summer work, after having decided that it was best to get that done and out of the way first before focusing their efforts on learning about anything else they could in the muggle world.

And for a change, no one really bothered the two of them.

To be fair, though, most of the other kids had figured it wasn't safe to bother them anymore, not with them going to a school where they could actively learn new ways to get back at them.

There were still a few of the other kids who were daring enough to try something, but it was usually shot down near immediately by either Tom or Harry.

The halfway mark was met with a letter from Alphard Black delivered to Tom.

Over breakfast, he mentioned it to Harry. "Alphard wrote," he offered. "Checking in, I suppose. He sent you something as well, I put it in your room."

Harry gave him a wary look before he nodded in understanding and returned his attention to his food.

But he was too quiet, Tom noticed warily. "What's with you?"

Harry shook his head in response, but disappeared once he'd finished breakfast and cleared his mess away.

Tom scowled after him, but didn't try to follow. If Harry was shutting himself away, it was something he wanted to go through alone.

* * *

The silence was on and off until the two boys re-entered the Wizarding World, traveling to Diagon Alley together. 

Then Tom saw the side of Harry he'd grown to miss in the recent weeks - a halting smile and bright eyes, excitement coming from him in waves that were trimmed in a sort of dark amusement that Tom reveled in.

The shopping trip was interesting - Harry spent a little extra money on new notebooks for their research, just in case.

Tom seemed amused by this, but he knew he was just as excited for it as Harry was.

* * *

September first couldn't come fast enough, and once they were on the train, they settled with Harry's trunk down from the racks, locks undone so they could get started on their research, knowing no one else would pop in until a bit into the trip. 

They were in the middle of discussing something when the compartment door opened to reveal Alphard there.

Harry gave him a long look before he rolled his eyes and motioned towards the other bench. "Close the door," he said softly.

Tom waited until the compartment door was closed again before he continued speaking. "I know it seems useless, but you said it yourself before summer started that we needed to be careful what we wrote off as useless. Just jot it down as something that could be useful," he said, giving Harry a look.

Harry went to argue before he shook his head and did as Tom had said.

"Interesting summer?" Alphard asked of the two once this was done.

Tom nodded in agreement with this, giving him a long look before a small smile showed up. "Thank you for writing this summer,"

Alphard shrugged, nodding.

* * *

The Welcoming Feast was slow, but it was full of Harry having to adopt his old act from last year - he didn't miss the fact that Dumbledore was watching them from his place at the Head Table instead of paying attention to the Sorting. 

"Looks like he's gonna watch us closely this year," Tom murmured into Harry's ear under the sound of the Gryffindor's clapping as they gained another first year.

Harry glanced over at Tom before he nodded in agreement with the statement. "What are we going to do about it?"

The other Slytherins chose to ignore this, which Tom was grateful for. He gave a small smirk.

"We give him a show, of course,"

Harry's eyes darkened slightly at the amusement coloring Tom's tone, but he understood what he meant.

Dumbledore's eyes stayed on them for the rest of the Sorting and well into the actual Feast, Harry noted.

Once food had appeared, Tom made quick work of making sure Harry had food on his plate - something the smaller raven haired boy was too distracted to do.  "You need to eat," he pointed out, tapping the side of Harry's neck without a second's thought before going about fixing his own plate and eating.

Harry tore himself from his musings to give Tom a thankful shadow of a smile and settle in to his food.

* * *

Settling in for the night, Harry was glad to be back in the dorm with Tom. 

Tom was quick to help unpack and get everything in order. "We'll get to work this weekend," he told Harry before turning his lamp out.

Harry turned his out as well, but lay awake for a while longer, consumed in thoughts of how different it all was.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry remained distracted until that weekend came around.

Tom gave him a strange look a few times during classes, but said nothing.

Once the weekend came, though, Tom spoke. "If you're going to be as distracted during our studying as you have been in classes this week, perhaps it's best if you don't join me,"

Harry gave him a strange look before he offered a small smile. "Sorry, Tom," he offered with a shrug. "Just been thinking, adjusting,"

Tom nodded, and the two were on their way moments later, heading towards the library.

* * *

Harry's book was the first to have to have more parchment added to it, and Tom's wasn't that much further behind. 

By the time Monday morning rolled around, both boys had added more parchment - what little they could at the moment - to their notebooks, and Harry groaned. "Maybe it's time to look into a charm to give us more space," he grumbled as he sat with Tom at breakfast.

Tom's eyes lit up and he gave Harry a knowing smirk. "That could work,"

Harry met his gaze before a shadow of a smile showed up, only to disappear again once the silent message had gotten through to Tom.

* * *

Dumbledore's gaze in his classes and during meals stayed pretty steady, Tom noted mentally. 

He didn't need to point it out to Harry, either, because the boy had noticed it as well.

It was something they discussed in whispers at meals when they noticed it.

"When do you think he'll stop?" Harry mumbled one evening in October.

Tom huffed in response. "Probably not any time soon,"

Harry seemed annoyed, but didn't let it show on his face as he ate.

That's something else that Tom noticed Harry had become scarily good at - creating masks to wear in front of everyone else.

It's as if he'd had practice, but Tom wasn't sure where he'd gotten said practice, since it hadn't been any time when he was near the emerald eyed boy.


	7. Chapter 7

It wasn't long before they started discussing changes.

But as soon as they had, they started arguing more.

They kept it to their dorm, keeping their ideas from everyone else.

"No, Tom," Harry said with a tone of frustration. "We can't just....okay, putting it in a way that makes sense, why just focus on one area?"

Tom huffed. "If you'd let me talk, Harry, you'd learn where I'm going with this,"

Harry motioned for him to talk, eyes cold.

"As I was saying, as far as creatures go, focusing on those that are closer to our society - werewolves, vampires and the sort, it could create a sort of bridge for us to work on with the others that aren't as friendly towards wizarding society,"

Harry couldn't argue that it was a good approach. "Alright. How do we approach these societies, though, without coming across as a threat?"

Tom was silent and then he gave a helpless shrug. "I haven't worked that far ahead yet," he admitted.

Harry nodded in understanding. "Well, how about we start there. First, we need to see what sort of laws and restrictions are on them, we'll have to reconstruct everything from scratch, best we know what we're destroying before we actually do it,"

Tom hummed, grabbing a random notebook - a muggle composition book that they'd brought - and a pen. "Then let's go get started,"

Harry nodded, following Tom's motions and then heading with him towards the library, talking in quiet whispers as they walked.

* * *

Harry was surprised at just how much information they'd gathered in such a short time, if he were honest. 

There weren't many restrictions on vampires, not compared to werewolves. He kept his anger hidden from Tom at seeing some of the laws about werewolves.

They were quick about copying over the laws and restrictions - Tom working with the stuff about vampires while Harry did the same for the information about werewolves. They'd be the biggest ones to work through for the moment.

Once they had what they needed, they put the books away and headed back to the dorm to drop their things off before heading to lunch.

"So how are we going to start with this?" Tom asked in a quiet voice as they sat at the end of Slytherin table, ignoring the strange looks from the others at their sudden decision to sit anywhere but the middle of the table.

Harry shook his head, then spoke. "Maybe start with dissecting what we have, see what we can fix and what we can toss out," he offered in his own whispered voice. 

Tom hummed in agreement with this. "We'll start when we get back,"

Harry gave the smallest twinge of a smile in response.

* * *

"You two have been locking yourselves away quite a bit recently," Alphard said doubtfully at dinner that evening. 

Tom gave him an amused smile before he spoke. "My apologies, Alphard, I wasn't aware you needed our constant attention," he said, tone teasing.

Harry gave a huff of quiet laughter at this, but said nothing.

Tom immediately lost the teasing tone before he spoke again. "We're busy, Alphard, we have a lot of work to do with our little projects. After all, the classes don't teach us nearly enough to satisfy our curiosity, and we don't have access to anything on this world for most of the summer holidays,"

That was the story that Harry and Tom had agreed on sharing with the other Slytherins when they got curious and asked about their studies.

It had been met with understanding and comments about how it was such a shame they were forced back to their horrible muggle orphanage during the summers.

Tom gave Harry a knowing look out of the corner of his eye, and Harry smirked slightly before refocusing on his dinner. He knew this was the beginning of something that would go down in history, and he couldn't wait to see it through.

This time, Tom's revolution would mean something, he'd be sure of it.


	8. Chapter 8

Harry didn't have days where he thought about his previous timeline very often.

But when they cropped up, everyone could immediately tell that something wasn't right.

He kept his meek mask up even within the walls of the Slytherin common room when they happened.

And so, Harry spent most of his day in the dorms, thanking every being he could think of that it was a Sunday instead of during the week when he had classes.

Tom came in right before they were to leave for dinner and dropped his notebook off and then stood near the doorway, staring a hole through Harry before he sighed, rolling his eyes, and moving to plop down on the emerald eyed boy's bed. "Alright, what's wrong?"

Harry threw a look over at him before he shook his head. "Thinking," he offered.

He used that excuse a lot when he wasn't himself, because it was never a lie that way.

"What about?" Tom asked after a moment.

Harry met this with silence for a moment, and just before Tom was about to give up and let the topic go for now, he spoke.

"Our plans," he offered.

It wasn't a lie. He had been thinking about them, trying to put them into retrospect with what he knew happened in his past timeline. He didn't want to witness Tom fall to madness brought on by his horcruxes.

Tom was quiet for a moment before he got up and closed the door, moving back to sit on the bed with Harry, facing the other boy this time, and motioned for him to continue.

Harry hesitated before he continued talking. "If we found some type of magic that required soul magic...no matter what it gave us in return for it, would you do it?"

Tom shrugged. "I suppose that depends what it would give us," he offered.

Harry met his eyes - dark hazel-brown - and shook his head. "No, Tom." he said, voice sounding wrecked. "No. If we find soul magic, would you do it if it meant losing me?"

This question was met with silence and Tom holding his gaze before he shrugged. "What are you asking?"

"I'd die for you," Harry said immediately. "You knew this going into these plans. I'd also live for you, if that's what you'd have me do. Would you do the same for me, no matter how tempting the other options are?"

Tom gave a soft chuckle and moved to ruffle Harry's hair. "Silly boy," he commented, shaking his head. "We're in a mutual agreement on these terms. If that ever changes, you'll be the first to know. Now we have dinner. Enough of these pointless thoughts, save them for another time when it really means something,"

Harry understood what he was saying - save these thoughts for if the situation ever came up. He hoped it didn't.

But he kept it to himself as he allowed Tom to lead him to dinner - they were slightly later than the other Slytherins.

"Everything alright?" Alphard questioned curiously when the two took the seats that had been left open for them in the middle of the table, backs to the wall so they could see the rest of the Great Hall.

Tom nodded in agreement. "Just fine, Alphard," he offered, then threw a look to Harry. "He was just having a self doubting spell,"

Alphard made a noise of understanding and let the two focus on their dinner.

* * *

Tom threw a look to Harry as they got ready for bed that evening before he spoke. "About earlier?"

Harry gave Tom a wary look, but allowed him to continue.

"Do you know of such magic, since you brought it up?"

Harry went to deny it, but Tom's eyes were so curious and open that Harry just shrugged and nodded in agreement.

"Tell me about it," Tom requested. "I'd like to know, because magic is still magic. We should learn about it, even if we choose not to actually use it,"

Harry felt slightly doubtful about it before he spoke. "Next weekend, I'll tell you what I know about it,"

Tom nodded in acceptance of this deal - he knew he wouldn't get anything out of Harry before then at any rate.

* * *

Tom lay awake that night after Harry had fallen asleep, thinking about Harry's panicked eyes as they spoke about his thoughts. He threw a look over to the boy to see him sleeping peacefully, looking for all the world like nothing could ever touch him. 

But at the same time, Tom knew that was but an illusion.

And so, at that time, he decided that no matter what happened in the future, he wasn't losing his friend.

At the moment, he wasn't sure how he'd manage to accomplish it, but he'd figure it out eventually, he was sure.


	9. Chapter 9

Come morning, Tom felt like he hadn't slept at all that night, but he didn't complain as he settled in at breakfast with Harry beside him.

The emerald eyed boy seemed worried, but he didn't ask questions, knowing he wouldn't get an answer from Tom even if he did.

In fact, no one really questioned Tom that morning, since the only person who tried was greeted with a deadly glare.

* * *

Classes brought a bit more of a friendly attitude, though not by much. Tom didn't speak much, just took notes and did the assignments they were asked to do. 

Harry had never been so glad for a free period before lunch in his life. He immediately pulled Tom back to their dorm and started talking. "What's wrong with you today? You look exhausted and you're snapping at everyone,"

Tom gave him a steady look before settling on his bed, laid on his back but his head angled so he could watch Harry. "I didn't sleep much, that's all,"

Harry gave him a doubtful look, but settled on the side of Tom's bed to watch him patiently, knowing that eventually Tom would tell him what kept him up.

They sat in silence for a good five minutes before Tom broke it and sighed. "You seemed terrified yesterday when we discussed your thoughts. I don't want to see that again, ever," he offered. "But at the same time, I don't know how to avoid it. The smallest things seem to trigger these thoughts,"

Harry gave Tom a surprised look before he offered a small smile. "Don't worry about that. If it's important, I'll tell you what's causing it,"

"That isn't the _point_ , Harry. I'd never seen you so terrified before. I've seen you face down kids at the Orphanage twice your size without a moment's thought. You rule Slytherin alongside me, that takes a lot. So why is it that now that we're working on our plans, you're scared?" Tom asked, sitting up to stare at the other boy.

Harry hesitated before he shrugged. "Because one misstep, one unneeded action could ruin all of it," he said, holding Tom's gaze for a moment before looking down. "I don't want that to happen. I don't want to watch as everything we can build crumbles over something so worthless, and I don't want to see you fall like I fear you will,"

Silence followed this, and Tom nodded after a long moment. "Okay. Then let's make a deal,"

Harry gave him a wary look, but Tom was grinning and it was such a strange thing for Harry that he just agreed.

"I'll keep you from worrying about what could be in the future as much as possible, and you keep me from risking what we're building. It's the best I can do right now, and it can always be elaborated and changed as time goes,"

Harry nodded in agreement.

* * *

The next morning brought a better mood in Tom, and it set the Slytherins back to their usual calm state now that things seemed to be better. 

The rest of the week fell into a routine that Harry had found himself quite content with - Tom and him didn't do any extra studying that week, focusing on their assignments and spending time in the common room with the others.

But once Saturday dawned, they were both out of the common room with their notebooks.

They spent from breakfast until close to lunch in the library doing some research and taking notes on the few laws they hadn't copied over about vampires and werewolves.

Once they'd finished that, though, they headed out to the lake and settled to start talking quietly.

"So, that magic..." Tom prompted, watching Harry as the other boy stared at the lake with a small smile.

Harry glanced over at him before he gave an amused huff, then started talking. "It's soul magic, I brought it up earlier. But...it's...you're splitting your soul in half, sealing part of it away in something. It's a way to ensure immortality, but it's no way to live. It can drive a person mad,"

Tom was quiet as Harry explained the magic - horcruxes, Harry called them.

While he liked the idea of a fall back so he could live to see their revolution take affect, Harry was making it extremely clear what the drawbacks were.

Tom nodded in understanding when Harry stopped talking. "It sounds interesting, though it doesn't seem worth it,"

Harry gave him a tense smile and nodded in agreement.

Tom rolled his eyes at this, nudging Harry's shoulder gently. "Don't worry so much," he said with a grin. "It's fine. Thank you for telling me what you knew, we'll figure something out that isn't anything like that if it should come to it,"

Harry understood what he meant gave a faint smile in agreement.


	10. Chapter 10

There were times that Harry would get to thinking about things that he hadn't before.

Usually, they were brought on by a memory coming up.

The last time it happened, he was sitting in the Slytherin common room with Tom and a few of the other Slytherins in their year.

Alphard had been asking about the orphanage, curious about the muggle world despite himself.

"Not all muggles are bad, but there are some that I wouldn't wish upon the most evil being in the world," Harry offered blandly.

Tom gave him a strange look, but held his tongue.

Harry glanced up from the book he had open in his lap, green eyes meeting Alphard's curious gaze. "Our kind doesn't belong in the muggle world, Alphard. I've no issue letting them live as they want, but we shouldn't live among them."

"That's new," Tom remarked with an amused grin. "You'd let them live. What do you suggest, then?"

Harry met Tom's eyes before he shrugged. "Isolationism is a wonderful thing. We should be able to co-exist, so long as we aren't living among them. Because once they find out about us, then what? They're human, and human nature dictates that they'd fear us for being different."

"And thus, they'd attack us," Tom mused, settling into a similar thought process to the one he kept while they worked on their plans. "So what about those of us that live among them, muggleborns? Orphans like us?"

Harry tilted his head in though, closing his book as he did so. "It'd help the muggleborns to be brought in early, and if their parents are accepting, for them to be put under an oath of silence." he murmured, then suddenly felt rather stupid.

Alphard spoke up, though, cutting his musings off. "You might have something there. Why don't we start looking into laws about that sort of thing? Take note of what can be changed,"

Tom nodded in agreement. "I'll go get our notebooks, Harry," he offered, taking the boy's book as he stood to disappear to the dorm.

Harry got up and moved to stand with Alphard.

* * *

The library didn't offer them much information, but Alphard seemed happy to be helping them, so there was that. 

Harry gave an annoyed hum as he read through some of the laws about muggle relations. "There's nothing," he finally snapped.

Tom gave him an amused smile. "Then let's start planning."

Harry made no move to argue and closed the book he was reading, setting it to the side and grabbing his notebook to start noting down whatever they decided.

Alphard watched this before returning to the book in front of him, deciding to continue trying to find something they could work off of.

Tom spoke softly, though, keeping his voice quiet.

"So you said something about introducing the muggleborns to our world earlier. But how would we pick up on them?"

Harry shrugged, then huffed. "Accidental magic is always noted within the ministry, right?"

Alphard hummed in agreement, so Harry continued to speak.

"What if we could get a system up where we go check in at the first sign of accidental magic? That way we could explain, handle the situation before it has a chance to get bad,"

Tom gave Harry a strange look at this, but nodded anyway. "We could definitely try that," he offered, watching as Harry wrote down that suggestion. "What about orphans, those living in muggle establishments like the two of us?"

Harry's expression went dark and he spoke without a thought. "Most of those establishments should be closed down if they're similar to Wool's." he grumbled, then sighed. "We could work towards getting a magical orphanage opened? Surely that'd help,"

* * *

They returned to the common room not long after that, settling to continue their discussion. 

A few of the upper years offered suggestions as well, and Harry seemed content with what they were mapping out, so Tom said nothing.

Once they had a basic outline, Tom spoke. "Now to figure out how to get to this," he told the smaller male.

Harry glanced up at him before he nodded in agreement. "Shouldn't be hard," he commented. "Not like trying to search for information that doesn't exist, or planning it out to where we had something to work towards,"


	11. Chapter 11

They kept everything rather silent after that, not wanting word to reach the wrong ears before they knew what they were doing.

Alphard was careful to ask before writing his family for their opinion.

He'd only been allowed to because he'd given an oath that they wouldn't share rumors of this until it was time.

Harry believed him. And after all, it couldn't hurt to have someone ready to start discussing this within high society when the time came.

Tom seemed quite happy with how things were working out, and it allowed them to settle into their plans more, working out the finer details and looking into other things as well.

Alphard started joining them on their trips to the library in their free time.

"Alright, what about those with creature blood?" Harry asked quietly after a long moment of looking at their carefully constructed plans. "Veela, for example?"

Alphard tilted his head in thought before he huffed. "There's a lot of discrimination, you know."

"I know," Harry countered, looking at the other male with annoyance. "We're going to _fix_ everything wrong with this society, make it as amazing as it could be if people would keep their heads out of their arses,"

Tom gave an amused smirk when Alphard gave him a look, clearly asking for help. "He's right,"

They spent the rest of their Saturday, up until dinner, in the library, going through books and talking quietly.

Come dinner, some of the others decided to question what they were up to.

Tom just gave them a dark look before he spoke. "Nothing you should concern yourself with yet,"

The yet told volumes, and the other Slytherins shared looks, but let it go.

* * *

When winter holidays came around, Alphard gave an amused smile the day they were leaving. "Don't bury yourselves in books all break," he told the two halfbloods. 

Tom waved him off as him and Harry went through a book, seated on a couch near the fire.

* * *

Christmas morning, Harry huffed as he woke up. He glanced over at Tom, who was already up and getting ready for the day, dressed casually. 

It took the two little time to be ready for the day and to have their gifts opened.

Alphard had sent both of them several different books, with a shared note about them seeming to be helpful to the cause they were building upon.

"We'll have to thank him when he comes back," Harry said as they headed to breakfast that morning.

Tom nodded in agreement. "So we will. But let's focus on that once he's actually back. We can get started on going through those books today,"

* * *

They were halfway through the second book, reading thoroughly and discussing what they were reading quietly within their dorm, by the time Tom's birthday came around. 

Harry brought some of Tom's favorite foods to the dorm that evening and Tom gave him an amused smile. "Find the kitchens, then?"

Harry nodded in agreement and they settled down without further fanfare.

All in all, they counted this year as already levels above their previous year. They were making quite a bit of progress within their plans.


End file.
